The Band Candy Aftermath
by tardistime11
Summary: Giles and Joyce finally discuss the events that occurred during 'Band Candy' .


As Joyce walked from her car through the courtyard of Rupert Giles' apartment complex, she had no idea how to even begin the conversation she was about to have. She tried rehearsing it in her head, but nothing ever sounded right. After already putting off this conversation long enough she decided it was best just to walk into it, face it head-on, and see what happened.

Approaching the door she feels her nerves getting to her. So much could go wrong. Everything is so unpredictable. How will he react to what she has to say and will he even be open to discussing everything? "There's only one way to find out", she mumbles to herself as her hand reaches up to knock on the door. It takes a few moments for him to answer and when he does a look of surprise takes over his face.

"Ms. Summers."

"I believe we've past the point of formalities", she says thinking back to the events of several weeks ago.

"Ah, quite right. Joyce then."

"May I - ?" She indicates with her hand the implication of her question and he simply steps aside to give her room to enter. With this being Sunnydale you can never be to careful inviting people in, friend or not.

After she steps inside he closes the door behind her and then leads her further into the flat. She had noticed when he opened the door that he wasn't wearing his usual tweed and had instead opted for khaki pants and a soft blue oxford shirt. The tea kettle starts to whistle as he walks her into the living room. He leaves to remove the kettle from the heat and Joyce takes the opportunity to take a look around the room that she so relaxed in just a few short weeks ago. Everything was still as it was. The records in their place on the shelves next to the player. She no longer smelt the fumes of cigarettes as she did when she was last here.

"Tea?"

She looks up to see him peering his head out from the kitchen. "Yes, please" she says returning his gentle smile.

While waiting for him to return and trying not to seem too nosy, she takes a seat on the sofa. She realizes that her heart is pounding in her chest and takes some slow deep breaths to try and relax a bit. He brings out the tea and sits with her on the sofa just a couple feet away.

"Thank-you", Joys says as she picks up the warm cup and begins blowing off the steam to cool the hot liquid. Silence takes over the room as the two sip their tea. Neither had really spoken much to each other since the 'incident'. The awkwardness of their situation had kept them from talking about it. She was Buffy's mother and he was her Watcher. They had never indicated romantic interests towards one another before that night and neither knew quite what to make of it. They were thrown in to it all rather suddenly and the situation left them with a lot to think about.

Joyce wasn't sure how he felt about her. She wasn't ever entirely sure of her feeling towards him. She had always found him attractive but had never considered a relationship beyond that of what they had had. She didn't even want to think about how Buffy was going to react when she learned of everything that actually went on that night. If her reaction to them kissing was any indication, finding out they had actually slept together wouldn't go over too well.

As nervous as she was about this discussion, she knew it had to be done. Everything had to be laid out on the table so they could begin to move forward from this point instead of continuing avoiding each other forever. 'Here goes nothing.'

"So." She could tell her voice startled him after the prolonged silence. "I think we need to talk about what happened . . . between us. We've been avoiding it which seems a bit juvenile for two grown adults and, well, I think we just need to get everything out there."

He looked up at her and nodded, lowering his tea to the cup plate. "Yes I suppose we should", he finally responded.

Another short silence settled between them.

"I'm not quite sure where to begin", he offered.

"Neither and I, really. So much happened. So much unexpected. I'm not sure how we're really supposed to deal with this. Is there even a right was? It's just all such a bizarre situation." She realized at this point that she was rambling and had progressively begun talking faster. "You knew him? That man? Ethan?"

"Yes, from back home in England. We were friends once. Things have changed since then. I have changed. Though apparently his idea of humor hasn't changed much. To him it was all like a big practical joke."

"Very funny", Joyce said sarcastically.

"He's an arse. It's just how he gets his kicks. Messing with me is a favorite of his. I'm sorry you got involved. He really made a mess of things, didn't he?"

She could tell by is voice and the look on his face that he was truly remorseful for his old friends actions. Like he somehow felt it was partly his fault just because he once knew him.

"We had sex." She said it suddenly and he looked up at her in response. "Sorry, I didn't mean to sound so blunt but I couldn't figure out a way to softly bring it up."

"It's alright. I guess there's no great way to smooth it into conversation." Rupert set his now empty tea cup down on the table in front of him and sat forward on the couch, clearly thinking over his next choice in words. "I'm not sure what I can say, Joyce. We were both – well – we weren't ourselves. At least not how we are now. I don't know what to take from all of this. That night was . . ." He rubbed his hand against his chin, not sure of what he wanted to say. He let out a long breath, looked up at her and let a gentle smile show on his face. "I – I enjoyed the time spent with you. Listening to the records. Talking. Getting you that ridiculous coat from the shop window."

They both laughed a moment at the memory.

"Is it bad I haven't returned it? I wasn't sure how to even begin explaining it to the store clerk."

This made Rupert chuckle a bit more. "I think most of the adults in town just decided to forget everything from that night and just not worry about it."

"I guess. But, unfortunately, we can't."

"Yes. It would be difficult since we see each other fairly regularly. Plus, since we're familiar with the workings of this town and know what actually happened, it makes it more difficult to ignore."

"That's not what I meant", she said looking towards the floor at her crossed feet.

"What did you mean?"

After a moment's hesitation she responded. "We didn't use protection."

It took him a moment until the realization hit and worry soon spread over his face. She gave him a moment before she continued. "I saw a doctor earlier this week because I suspected."

"So you're sure?"

"Very."

He leant back forward resting his arms on his legs and looked distantly across the room. She let him have a few moments to his thoughts knowing he didn't have any children and, like her, he wasn't expecting any so suddenly. It must be quite a shock for him.

"I don't know what to say . . .", he finally whispered. He rubbed his hands over his face and stood to pace the room. He was clearly befuddled by the news and scared and worried and something else that she couldn't quite make out.

"I know this is all very sudden", she said breaking the silence, "It is for me too. I wasn't expecting to have another child with one getting close to finishing high school."

This seemed to draw him back from his distant thoughts. "Buffy! Have you told her?"

"No. I haven't told her about any of this. I knew we needed to talk first. Work things out."

"Yes. Thank-you." He walked back towards the sofa and resumed his seat next to her, wringing his hands and clearly in a bit of a shock.

"Are you alright, Rupert?"

He finally looked towards her again. "Yes. I'm sorry. This is just – it's a lot to take in. I'm not sure how I should be reacting."

He leans back into the sofa moving his left hand to rub against his jaw as he thinks.

"When you came here tonight, you said that we needed to 'get everything out there'. I think you're right. Why do you think we ended up together that night, Joyce? Nothing forced us together. Something inside you made you want to come to my flat that night, made me want to spend my night with you. We could have spent our night of regained youth doing anything, with anyone, but we chose each other. Why?"

She didn't know how to respond. His eyes were boring into hers as she stared back into his. There was so much emotion in him right now. More than she'd ever seen.

"I don't know", she finally responded.

He looked away for a moment and took a breath, then returned back to her eyes.

"Since we met, I've always seen you as Buffy's mother. Buffy is my charge and she means the world to me so I, consciously or not, respect her life outside of slaying as much as I can. This means respecting boundaries between work and family. Since that night with you Joyce, I've been finding it hard not to cross that boundary. To see you again and talk. Since Jenny died, I haven't really had anyone here, except the kids. And that night with you . . . it brought me back. Made me feel alive again. Not so lost; not alone. I think that the spell not only made us act like our teenage selves, but think like them too. It took away our adult inhibitions, things that would normally hold us back. The feeling were already there, we just hadn't acted on them."

By this point Joyce found herself entranced in his voice, hoping she was correct in where this was leading. He kept looking into her eyes as he talked, only occasionally looking away as he gathered his words. They hadn't touched since that night many weeks ago until now when he took her left hand in his right as he continued to speak.

"I guess what I'm trying to say is – I can't keep pushing my feelings down. Keeping them quiet for fear of messing up my relationship with you and with Buffy. If I'm not being honest about how I feel then we'll always be avoiding one another like this and I don't like that. I care about you, Joyce. More than maybe I should. Because whatever the circumstances of how all of this occurred, I don't regret what happened between us that night. I regret how it happened, but not what happened. And I hope I'm not completely reading all of this wrong, but I hope you feel the same towards me. And I hope you don't have too much regret."

"I don't regret it either", she said with a weak smile. Her feelings for him had been changing over the weeks as well. She couldn't believe that he felt the same. She began openly crying at this point; not hard, but letting the tears flow. Her emotions were overwhelming her. Rupert put his hand on her shoulder unsure of how she'd react to his touch; to the contact. She leaned in to him, resting her head on his chest, and found comfort in his warmth. Remembering the feel of his warm body on hers. She couldn't wait any longer. She lifted her head and her lips found his. Slow at first, but they soon found the familiar passion between them returning and heating up the kiss. As his tongue found hers, she was sure that this feeling was right and let her hands find their way to either side of his face to pull him closer as he wrapped his arms around her. The kiss lasted several minutes before it began to wind down; ending in soft, tender, feather kisses before he nuzzled at her neck, holding her.

She felt him smile against her neck. "I guess this means you like me too?" He slowly pulled back and held her face in his hands, rubbing his thumb against her cheek. "I want to do this right. You and me. I know the baby changes things, but I don't think we should rush into it all. We can still take things slow. Get to know one another. Properly know one another, not just about the monsters and Buffy, but about each other."

"That sounds nice", she responded with a smile. "But you know we're doing this whole relationship thing backwards. Baby first and then dating?"

"Yes, but then again, I guess everything's always been backwards in this town. What do we tell Buffy?"

"I think I'll wait a bit on that. Just until we figure everything out."

"How do you think she'll be?"

"Surprised I'm sure. But she'll get used to it. She loves you, and as long as we're both happy, I'm sure she'll be happy too."

They had relaxed back, settling into the couch while still holding each other close. After a few minutes, Rupert spoke up. "We're having a baby."

Looking up at him, Joyce asked "Does that frighten you?"

"Somewhat. But more so I'm happy. After all that has happened and because of the danger and secrets involved in my work, I didn't think I'd ever have the opportunity to have children; possibly a family. He said the last part quietly hoping to not overstep his bounds when it came to talking about the possible future of their relationship. "How do you feel about all of this?"

"I'm nervous. Worried. Mostly about starting all over with another baby. Going through everything again. But we'll see what comes. There's no use worrying over things that have already happened I guess." Joyce felt the tiredness coming over her and looked to her watch. "It's gotten late. I should really go before Buffy gets home. Saves me her relentless questioning of my whereabouts."

They stood and moved towards the door. Rupert grabbed a stake off of his desk and slipped it into his pocket before heading to the door to walk her to her car. It had gotten dark and he wasn't going to risk letting her walk even the short distance to her car on her own. They walked in a comfortable silence across the courtyard. He had his hand on the small of her back to lead her towards the street. She pulled her keys from her purse as they approached the car and turned to face him once they had reached the driver's door.

"We still have a lot to talk about, but I think this was a good start."

"A very good start. If you're not too busy this weekend perhaps we could have dinner?" He ended his question with a charming smile she couldn't resist.

"That sounds nice", she replied, smiling back.

"Good. Well, I suppose this is goodnight then."

"Yes, I suppose it is."

She had realized they had moved closer to one another and was pleased when he leaned in towards her, settling his hands on her waist as hers found their way to his shoulder and chest. It was a brief kiss, but a powerful one nonetheless. They smiled at each other and he rested his forehead on hers for a moment before separating and biding her goodnight. As she drove away, he walked back towards his apartment. Smiling all the way. Once he made it inside, he lent back against the door and let out a breath. He had a lot to think about.


End file.
